


when the stars looked down

by mo_olelo



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Childhood Friends, M/M, Pining, Short One Shot, Stargazing, fluff but also not really, it's normal to see all the stars in your best friend's eyes, midwest teen shenanigans, soft markhyuck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-01
Updated: 2020-06-01
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:53:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24486184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mo_olelo/pseuds/mo_olelo
Summary: the dreamies go stargazing and mark pines just a little
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee
Kudos: 37





	when the stars looked down

**Author's Note:**

> i'm not gonna lie to you this is pretty self indulgent  
> if you like soft dream/markhyuck content, you have come to the right place

Mark had been lying on his stomach swaddled in a comforter, protected in the familiarity of his bed. It was quite late already. His phone screen illuminated his face, the only brightness in the room, save for the sliver of dim yellow light crawling in from the crack under his bedroom door. He mindlessly scrolled through some form of social media, singing along softy to whatever song he had playing.

He vaguely heard the front door open and close, followed by garbled voices. Words were lost before they could reach him. A crescendoing thunk of footsteps tore up the stairs and popped his bubble of contentedness with each new step. The voices grew louder and the words carried in them became coherent as they came closer.

Mark was only just beginning to emerge from his comatose state, only just beginning to wipe the sluggishness off himself when the door burst open. The previous darkness gave way to the light of the hall and the familiar outlines of his friends Donghyuck, Jeno, Jaemin, and Renjun. 

“Come on, Mark. Grab a jacket, we’re going stargazing.” 

Jeno had brought the others in his truck, he and Jaemin claimed the front while Renjun joined Chenle and Jisung where they had been waiting in the back seats, bickering over something inconsequential just for the fun of it. Donghyuck, however, giddily showed Mark to the bed of the truck. It would have seemed as if the trade, a bed in a home for one on a truck, was silly. But never before had there been a truck so dressed to the nines. A makeshift nest of blankets and pillows met his eyes. Draped in throws, comforters, and sheets of blues and greens and pinks and yellows. Filled with plentiful pillows piled on pristine amounts of love that expressed the pinnacle of meticulous affection. With blankets clearly plucked from the shelves of sunshine and warmth, emitting a glow.

“Only the most comfortable form of travel for us, I made it myself,” Donghyuck proudly presented. 

Quickly Mark's best friend jumped into the back of the vehicle, wriggling around in the blankets until he was satisfied. Then he set his eyes to the sky. Those familiar bright eyes that Mark had been staring into since they were children, shining tenfold--they were suddenly mirrors, or pools of water, or glass after the rain has hit it ‘just so’--reflecting the stars in them. Mark's stomach flipped the way it always did when he saw Donghyuck like this, with wonder making him luminous.

The chill of the autumn Missouri night made itself known with a sharp gust of wind, and Mark climbed up to lie down beside Donghyuck in the safe haven of blankets he had crafted. There, in that comforting field of colorful cloth, he could feel his friend’s content excitement radiating off of him in waves. The rest of the world melted away. 

There was only the sky, filled with the most beautiful stars, who sang as an angelic chorus the sweetest song, and smiled the kindest smile. Mark smiled back.

Time passed like pouring honey, slow and clear in the most pleasant way. Jeno had never driven so gently as he did that night, the truck becoming a raft as the friends floated down the lazy river of road. An understanding quiet surrounded Mark and Donghyuck, both of them simply appreciating the sight above them and the familiar company beside. Gaze fixated upon the sky, Mark was blinded every few yards they traveled by the valiant street lights guarding the night. He met each of their stares, unwavering. Unwilling to miss anything unfolding above him. 

Eventually the lamps gave up their standoff, Mark emerging victorious. Jeno pulled them into a field they had been visiting since they discovered it a few years earlier, donned with graceful weeping willow trees that bowed to welcome them each time they entered. Only then, when they were finally engulfed complete darkness, did the fullness of the night sky present itself. The view had the same effect on Mark every time he experienced it, the silver sea of starlight overwhelming his vision. He sucked in a soft breath at the expanse, and felt Donghyuck sigh beside him.

Turning his head slightly, Mark watched Donghyuck take it all in. He always seemed the most at home here, like this. Mark was allowed to see the loveliest sides of Donghyuck when he drank in the sky and all it held, the stars an offering for a boy born of light and warmth. His chest swelled with the remembrance of the first time he saw Donghyuck bathe in the starlight, the way he turned to Mark and asked, "Isn't it beautiful?" with a sigh and a smile. 

The truck slowed to a stop, and the others clambered out, bearing gifts of gas station snacks they must have gotten before picking up Mark. Chenle squealed at the clarity of it all, looking up from his phone for the first time that night. Mark sat up to hand out extra blankets, laughing at each of his friends as they scattered again to get comfortable. Jeno, Jaemin, and Renjun climbed up on the other side of the truck to sit on the hood, leaning back against the windshield and snuggling close together for warmth. 

Jisung and Chenle took their blankets and bolted, chasing each other and screaming breathlessly. Mark chuckled as they playfully fought over where to set their blankets. The pair were a few years younger than the rest, but loved all the same, sweet when they wanted to be and devilish at all other times.

Mark settled back into his spot next to Donghyuck. The sky was free of clouds and any light that wasn't its own, with even the moon tucked away for the evening, leaving only the shimmering stars. Together they found constellations they'd learned together through countless other nights just like this. The pair pointed out one by one Orion and both dippers, Cancer and Gemini, then Taurus. Donghyuck dropped his arm first, and when Mark followed suit he almost let it rest against Hyuck's. The closeness made his throat tighten.

Mark always tried to count as many stars as he could, under his breath he tracked left to right, reading the night sky more carefully than any book. Donghyuck always tried to throw him off, whispered random numbers in Mark's ear and the back of his hand against Mark's wrist, laughing when he chokes on the distraction. He let his hand linger there tonight, burning a hole in Mark's arm. Stars flooded Mark's vision and drums thundered in his ears when he shifted his hand to slowly take Donghyuck's in his. They fell silent like that for a while. Mark rubbed Donghyuck's thumb with his own in wordless question, and relaxed when the other boy squeezed back softly.

Jisung and Chenle could be heard playing a game where they chose one star and stared at it while spinning madly, which ended more often than not with the two collapsing in heaps of shrieking laughter. A bag of chips crinkled up front as the other three snacked and talked quietly. Sweeping willow branches brushed against each other, whispering secrets with each passing breeze. Silence had never felt so full to Mark, to the point that when it was broken by Donghyuck it didn’t shatter or deteriorate, but rather blend into the words. 

“Do you think that somewhere out there, somebody could be looking out at their own sky, and see us in it?”

Mark thought for a few moments before responding, “Absolutely.”

He turned to watch Donghyuck open his mouth slightly as if to say something more, before closing it again and nodding. Instead he fixed a piece of fabric that had moved out of its place during the drive. Looking back up, Mark suddenly felt very aware of the things around him, of how parallel he was to the ground, of the way Donghyuck's hand fit into his own, of how the other boys were sharing their own awe of the night in their own ways, of how the air tasted dewy and crisp and tickled his nose with each inhale.

He started counting again, ticking off each star by pressing into Hyuck's hand finger by finger. The other boy let him count in peace, breathing slow in and out out of nose once, twice, before scooting just the slightest bit closer to Mark. If he leaned his head to the side his temple would rest against Mark's shoulder, Mark thought, and he could lean his head in as well and breathe in those golden curls that he knew smelled like citrus and sunshine. But neither of them moved again, not yet.

The stars sang to Mark for the rest of the night, gleaming in a way that said they knew something he didn’t.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading! i hope you enjoyed :)


End file.
